Electrical connector for terminating flat wire cables



April 1968 H. H. FRENCH 3,378,808

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR TERMINATING FLAT WIRE CABLES Filed Jan. 9, 1967 INVENTOR, HA RRY H. FRENCH.

' 57 V ATTORNEYS United States Patent l 3,378,808 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR TERMINATING FLAT WIRE CABLES Harry H. French, Wanamassa, Asbury Park, N.J., as-

signor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Jan. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 608,224 3 Claims. (Cl. 339-59) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an electrical connector for terminating flat wire cable and comprises essentially a generally rectangular pliable body portion having opposing respective concave track and convex bead segments on opposing side walls and a plurality of conductive leads extending through the body portion and a shell adapted to receive said pliable body. The shell of general rectangular configuration includes concave track and convex bead segments that mesh with the respective bead and track segments of the pliable body portion.

The present invention relates to electrical connectors or plugs which have specific application for use in terminating the fiat flexible cables used in conjunction with miniature and sub-miniature circuitry in electrical assemblies. While in the specific description hereinafter, the invention has been described in its application to miniature cable and circuitry, it is to be understood that the connector can be used in conjunction with conventional sized flat cable,

In the utilization of miniature electrical assemblies, fiat flexible cable is often presently being used. In such flat cable the spacing between the several electrical leads is often as little as one-thirty second inch or one-sixteenth inch and wherein the electrical leads are extremely thin to permit such assembly of leads. Such flat cable is usually made of sandwich construction and design wherein the electrical leads are positioned between sheets of pliable insulating plastic. To provide a terminal connector for such fiat cable, the conventional practice is to remove an end portion of the cable plastic from one or both sides of the electrical conductors to leave a portion of the conductors exposed to serve as a terminal. It has been found however that such arrangement of terminal connectors have not met the rigid requirements established for military and other usage.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector for terminating fiat printed wire cable that is more rigid than the type of connections presently available. Another object of the invention is to provide a connector for fiat printed wire cable that is readily detachable I from any component to which the connector is linked.

An important feature of the invention resides in the desirable feature of cutting such connectors to any width and size.

The invention can best be understood from the following description to be read in view of the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is one embodiment of a connector according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows alternate shapes of pins used in the connector;

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of a shell or cover adapted for use with the connector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of a completed connector;

FIG. 5 is a modification of the invention shown in cross-section; and

Patented Apr. 16, 1968 FIG. 6 is still another modification of the invention.

The connector shown in FIG. 1 shows a flat cable terminal connector in its basic form of the present invention and comprises essentially a body portion 11 made of a pliable insulating plastic or rubber. As can be seen in the drawing the configuration of the body 11 is generally rectangular and includes a shelf-like ledge 13 extending throughout the length of the body. One of the side walls or surfaces of the body is provided with a convex semiarcuate bead 15 which extends the full length of the body while the opposite side wall or surface includes a concave semi-arcuate groove or track 17 which parallels the bead 15. Extending transversely relative to the ledge 13 and through the body 11 are a plurality of metallic contact pins 19 having terminations 19a and 19b. As shown in FIG. 1 end 19a of each pin terminates above the ledge portion 13, but short of the top edge of the body member, while the other end 1% of the pin extends beyond the bottom edge of the body 11. The entire body 11 is of one piece construction as by a molding technique, with the contact pins 19 being placed in position at the time the body is being made. To insure more rigid. anchorage of the pins 19 within the body 11, the pins are preferably of bent configuration such as shown in FIG. 2.

For the completion of the connector assembly there is provided a shell 21 of U-shaped configuration as shown in FIG. 3. The inner side walls of the shell include a semiarcua te bead 23 and a semi-arcuate concave track 25 and openings 27 through which the contact pins 19 can be extended.

The completed connector is shown in FIG. 4 wherein the body portion 11 has been wedged into the shell 21 and held firmly in position by the meshing and engagement between the bead 15 of the body 11 and track 25 of the shell and like meshing of the bead 23 of the shell and the track 17 of the body 11. The ends 19a of the contact pins are secured electrically to their respective mating ends of the flat cable by soldering, welding or any appropriate means. The ends 1% are linked to a female receptacle of the same configuration or may be soldered directly to a circuit board. After completion of the assembled connector, an epoxy resin can be applied to the shelf section for sealing, waterproofing, and ruggedizing.

In FIG. 5 there is shown a modification of the invention which shows a cross-sectional view of a connector of circular configuration. In such form there is provided a shell 29 of circular configuration having a convex bead 31 circumferentially disposed on the inner surface wall of said shell. Included in such assembly is a plug 33 having a groove 35 which parallels the head 31. In such embodiment one turn of the body portion 11 can be inserted within the shell and the body portion 11 will be confined by engagement of the bead and grooved elements 15 and 17 respectively into the grooved portion 35 of the plug and the beaded portion 31 of the shell.

FIG 6 shows another application of the invention, similar to that of FIG. 5 but not utilizing a center plug. In such modification the body portion 11 is wrapped about itself within a circular shell 29.

What is claimed as new is:

1. An electrical connector for flat cable comprising a substantially rectangular solid body portion of pliable insulating material having a concave groove on one side wall and a convex head on the other side wall, both groove and bead extending throughout the length of said body, a plurality of contact pins extending transversely through said body wherein one end of each of said pins may be secured to the leads of the cable and the other end may be secured to an electrical component, and a shell of general rectangular configuration having on its inner side walls opposing discrete convex bead and concave groove segments throughout the length thereof which mesh with the respective groove and bead segments of said body portion and further including a series of openings in its base through which the contact pins of the body portion will extend when said body portion is wedged into said shell.

2. An electrical connector for flat cable comprising a substantially rectangular solid body portion of pliable insulating material having a concave groove on one side Wall and a convex bead on the other side Wall, both groove and bead extending throughout the length of said body, a plurality of contact pins extending transversely through said body wherein one end of said pins may be secured to the leads of the cable and the other end may be secured to an electrical component, and a shell of circular configuration having a continuous convex bead disposed on its inner wall and a plurality of openings in its base, whereby when said body portion is 4 coiled about itself it can be wedged into said shell and the concave groove of said body will mesh with the bead of said shell and the contact pins will extend through the openings of said shell.

3. A connector of the kind set forth in claim 2 and further including a circular plug having a continuous concave groove disposed on its side wall opposite to the bead of said shell.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,669,701 2/1954 Brus 339-59 3,007,131 10/1961 Dahlgreen et a1, 3,249,910 5/1966 Venn et a1.

PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

